How much can change in five years between two people meeting again? They went to high school and to college together but that was it. She stayed back in the city for two things, a job and a potential boyfriend, on the other hand, he moved to another...
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Manik couldn't wait for this horrendous night to be over. It had stirred up everything that did not need stirring. Mainly, it had knocked out Nandini so he hated it more than anything. Words would fail him if he had to describe exactly what he felt when he gathered a collapsing Nandini in his arms, two hours ago.
It was 4 am in the morning yet Manik was far away from being sleepy courtesy to the unconscious woman in front of him. He had immediately picked her up to get her settled on her bed. He had checked her pulse, the minute he laid her down under the warmth of her soft comforter only to find it stable so he understood that she was as good as sleeping which is why he did not attempt to wake her up.
But that left him awake, wondering what happened in just a span of one day. He loved their group, yes but he realized today that his feelings for Nandini was leaps and bounds ahead when it came to intensity. He strongly resented Jeanette today, no matter how justified she was on her part and just because she had hurt Nandini so much.
Manik understood Nandini more than even she knew because he let her believe so and today he knew that she reached her breaking point right when he heard her warn Jeanette about moving in with Sameer only if she was ready for it. It took him some time but he recognized that Nandini's biggest demon was being unable to make people stay with her. He might have missed it just like everyone else but that conversation during Mukti's wedding had enlightened Manik about how much she dreaded it when her closest people left her with bitter goodbyes. She hadn't used clear words but he was great at reading between lines so he got every unsaid sentence of her speech.
